Four Men Face Trial in Miami for Assassination of Haiti’s Former President

Federal prosecutors in Miami began opening statements against four defendants accused of plotting the 2021 murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. The prosecution alleges the men conspired from South Florida to overthrow the government, while defense attorneys claim their clients were manipulated into a scheme they believed was lawful.

A federal trial began Tuesday in Miami as prosecutors outlined their case against four defendants accused of orchestrating the 2021 murder of Haiti’s former President Jovenel Moïse, describing a conspiracy driven by greed and the desire for power.

The defendants facing trial are Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, Antonio Intriago, Walter Veintemilla and James Solages, all charged with plotting from South Florida to kidnap or assassinate Haiti’s former leader. The president’s death plunged the Caribbean nation into chaos, with violent gangs gaining unprecedented control.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean McLaughlin described the prosecution’s case as straightforward, telling jurors the defendants sought to grab power and accumulate wealth.

“So arrogant and confident in themselves, the evidence will show, and thinking so little of the Republic of Haiti and its people, they actually thought they could pull it off,” McLaughlin said.

Defense lawyers countered that the Haitian investigation was flawed and their clients became scapegoats for a domestic overthrow attempt.

“Once you get off on the wrong foot, everything that comes after is hard to trust,” Ortiz’s attorney Orlando do Campo said.

The assassination occurred on July 7, 2021, when approximately two dozen foreign mercenaries, primarily Colombian nationals, stormed the president’s residence near Port-au-Prince, according to authorities. Court filings indicate South Florida served as the hub for organizing and funding the scheme to remove Moïse and install a replacement leader.

Ortiz and Intriago operated Counter Terrorist Unit Federal Academy and Counter Terrorist Unit Security, known collectively as CTU, while Veintemilla ran Worldwide Capital Lending Group. All companies operated from South Florida.

The trio could receive life imprisonment if convicted. All have entered not guilty pleas. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra has allocated over two months for the proceedings.

Authorities say the plotters originally selected Christian Sanon, a dual Haitian-U.S. citizen, as Moïse’s successor. Solages served as CTU’s Haiti representative, working with Sanon and other participants, according to officials.

During an April 2021 meeting in South Florida, the conspirators agreed that Sanon would grant CTU lucrative contracts for infrastructure development, security services and military supplies once he assumed power, investigators revealed. Worldwide Capital provided financial backing, establishing a $175,000 credit line for CTU and transferring funds to Haiti-based accomplices for ammunition purchases, authorities stated.

CTU recruited approximately 20 Colombian military veterans to serve as Sanon’s security detail. The group also spent months acquiring firearms and protective gear while attempting to establish connections with Haitian criminal organizations, officials reported.

By June 2021, the conspirators recognized that Sanon lacked both the constitutional requirements and public backing necessary to become president. They subsequently supported Wendelle Coq Thélot, a former Haitian Superior Court judge who died in January 2025 while evading capture.

Defense attorneys informed jurors that Sanon contacted their clients in early 2021 with proposals to free Haiti from Moïse, who had extended his presidential term beyond its limit and faced condemnation from Haitian citizens, American lawmakers and United Nations representatives.

Emmanuel Perez, representing Intriago, stated the group believed they were collaborating with FBI personnel, U.S. Embassy staff and Haitian government members in what they considered the legitimate detention of a criminal president.

The defense has identified Joseph Félix Badio, a former Haitian government employee arrested in Haiti in 2023, as the true architect of a plot to murder Moïse during his arrest. Defense lawyers maintain that Haitian police officers had already killed Moïse when the Colombian security team arrived to apprehend him.

The group possessed a legitimate arrest warrant bearing a judge’s signature, according to Solages’ attorney Jonathan Friedman. The judge subsequently claimed the warrant was signed under coercion.

“None of the people here on trial knew that,” Friedman said.

Marissel Descalzo, representing Veintemilla, chose to delay her opening statement until after the prosecution presents its evidence.

Five other individuals have already admitted guilt to conspiracy charges in the United States and received life sentences. A sixth person was sentenced to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to supplying body armor to the conspirators. Sanon’s trial date will be determined later.

Seventeen Colombian military personnel and three Haitian officials are facing charges in Haiti. Gang warfare, death threats and a deteriorating justice system have hindered the investigation.